History of Aston Martin

One of the most famous luxury car brands, Aston Martin, was founded in 1904 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, and in its early years was named after the names of its founders. The first cars of the company were designed exclusively for the needs of athletes who took part in various competitions around the world. One of these athletes was Lionel Martin himself, who won the prestigious Aston race in the first car of his Singer-10 brand. This is how the modern name of the company “Aston Martin” appeared.

However, the second model was developed two years after the registration of the trademark and its large-scale production was planned, which was prevented by the outbreak of the First World War. Nevertheless, several test samples were released, which were bought by one of the largest airlines in the country.

After the war, production was never established, and in 1947 the ruined Aston Martin company was bought out by entrepreneur David Brown, who was a longtime fan of Lionel Martin and an avid sports car collector. By the way, it was Brown who added the famous DB to the name of the models that are still in use.

In 1957, the first two Aston Martin models came out – the DB1 and its racing modification DBR1. In addition, the Englishman bought out the Lagonda racing company, whose developments made it possible to upgrade the DBR1 so that it could participate in the twenty-four-hour Le Mans marathon, which immediately submitted to the enterprising and ambitious company. In 1959, a confident, but the only victory was won, which for many years to come will excite the new owners of the brand.

However, David Brown decided that the time had come to gain worldwide fame far beyond the borders of France and Great Britain. The best decision was to participate in the work on the film about James Bond. Released by that time, the Aston Martin DB5 had an elegant design and solid performance of a sports car. The model for the film received a more powerful 4-liter engine, versus 3.7 for the standard model, as well as the world’s first five-speed sports gearbox and a soft suspension that dampened rolls when entering a turn at high speed. As a result, the Aston Martin DB5 became the best-selling sports car of its day on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, exhausted by illness and the beginning financial difficulties due to the modernization of production, David Brown decides to sell the company in 1972. The new owners were no less ambitious than David Brown in 1947. The Aston Martin V8 model was released, which wiped out the sales of competitors from Lamborghini and Ferrari in the UK throughout 1972. In addition, an attempt was made to revive the Lagonda company and sell cheap versions of Aston Martin cars under this brand. But problems also arose for the new owners, who were forced to sell a controlling stake in Aston Martin to Ford.

For six long years, the American concern carried out a complete restructuring of Aston Martin, and in 1993 the remaining shares were purchased. The result of Ford’s management was the release of the Aston Martin DB6 and DB7, sales of which grew every year and reached 6,000 copies sold in 2001. In addition, Ford announced in 2003 two new Aston Martin models at once – DB9 and Vanquish, which were supposed to finally make the English brand the leader in sales in its segment around the world.

Just 3 months later, Ford unexpectedly announced plans to sell Aston Martin, which was done in January 2004. The new owners were Arab investors Aabar and Prodrive, led by David Richards. He also took the chair of Aston Martin CEO. His main decision was to use the DB9 platform for the production of new models of the company in the future.

In 2002, the company announced the release of the six thousandth car.

In 2003, the Aston Martin AMV8 Vantage was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show. In the same year, the Gaydon factory was opened, and the Vanquish and DB9 models were announced. In late 2003, the company announced a return to motorsport in 2005. Especially for this, the Aston Martin Racing division was created.

In 2006, the company became profitable for the first time in decades. But in the same year, Ford put Aston Martin up for sale due to financial problems. Ulrich Betz became the head of the company.

In 2007, Dave Richards took over the company, returning Aston Martin to British hands. In August of the same year, they began to assemble the new DBS flagship. It was truly a rebirth of the 1967 Aston Martin DBS. In the model name, the letters DB indicate the initials of one of the owners of Aston Martin, David Brown, and S means that this is a “charged” modification of the DB9 sports car. This model was noted for being twice chosen as the car of James Bond in the films “Casino Royale” (2007) and “Quantum of Solace” (2008), which continued the tradition started by its “ancestor”.

And in 2008, sales of the chic sports four-door coupe-sedan Rapide began, which was based on the chassis from the DB9 model.

In the winter of 2009, Aston Martin was included in the list of participants in Le Mans (racing tournament) of the prestigious LMP1 division.

Also in 2009, the British introduced the Aston Martin One-77, the first full-fledged supercar, which at the time of release was the most powerful production car with a naturally aspirated engine (760 hp). Only 77 of these machines were produced. up to $2.2 million

In 2010, Aston Martin shocked fans by releasing a small Toyota subcompact under its brand. Many are sure that this decision was made under pressure from an environmentalist in order to reduce the average level of CO2 emissions in the model range.

Also in 2010, an updated DB9 model was introduced.

And finally, in 2012, Aston Martin cars rightfully became full members of the Le Mans racing tournament. Thus, the Aston Martin brand still continues to be one of the most successful brands of premium racing cars.

In addition, in the same year, the former owner of Ducati acquired a 37.5% stake in Aston Martin, thereby approving the company’s investment plan – 100 million pounds per year ($ 160 million) for 5 years. So you should not worry about the future of the brand, at least for 10-15 years.

In 2013, Aston Martin signed a strategic partnership with German automaker Daimler AG, an agreement to jointly develop a new V8 engine that will help build the next generation of Aston Martin vehicles.

In 2014, the company narrowed things down a bit with the introduction of the exclusive Lagonda sedan in Dubai for sale in the Arab world. The model was called Taraf, which means “unconditional luxury” in Arabic. Naturally, each premium car model will be assembled by hand. And of course, the series of bulettes is limited – only 100 copies. The cost of the supercar will be approximately half a million US dollars.

In 2015, the company plans to release a limited edition of six cars, each dedicated to a specific decade, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the plant in Newport Pangelll. In addition to the exclusive paint and interior trim, each car has rotating metal knobs on the control panel, made from melted down cylinders of old models from the past 6 decades.

Aston Martin today, as well as 20 years ago, continues to be considered a racing class car. However, a lot has changed, and now the Aston Martin car is more likely to be found on the streets of the metropolis than on the racetracks.

The company also continues to produce sports cars of the Gran Turismo class and luxury sedans of the Hi End class. The current lineup includes Vanquish, Rapid and DB9. However, the company’s funding decreased significantly after its acquisition by the ProDrive consortium, but this did not plunge the company into a crisis, production is growing every year, and queues are lining up for each of the company’s models, stretched for several months in advance. The reason for this is the desire for perfection – assembly is currently carried out manually, engines are assembled in an airless workshop, designs are developed by the best designers in Europe, and only natural materials are used for interior trim. major awards such as Car of the Year, Best Sports Car and Fastest GT Sedan.